Tag Archives: dying

📚 Suicide Watch by Janell 📚

What you don’t know can kill you. A wave of suicidal behavior has gripped the nation with no concern for race, gender, or age. Many think it’s just a trend, but inspirational singer Candace Tremont knows better. Since witnessing the suicide of her husband five years prior, she’s committed her life to fighting the spirit of depression. Unfortunately, suicidal thoughts and dreams also plague her mind, making the war more personal than anyone around her realizes. Unfulfilled with periodic and low-paying gigs, Candace yearns for an opportunity to touch more lives. Her prayers are answered—or so it seems—when she is offered a temporary job at Ontario Correctional Facility, performing for suicidal female inmates. A surge of self-harming behaviors has put the facility at risk for shut down, and Candace’s music might be the staff’s final hope of keeping their jobs. In addition to a substantial fee, Candace is given the assistance of the handsome Julius Barnes, one of the prison’s psychologists who believes her music can help reduce the lethal behaviors of the incarcerated population. However, Apollius, a fallen angel committed to destruction, has other ideas for the inmates, and won’t give up his control over these women so easily. A supernatural battle of epic proportions has ignited in Upstate New York, and the consequences could be fatal. Are Candace’s songs of faith powerful enough to save the lives of the inmates and keep the facility from closing down indefinitely? Or will her interference with Apollius’ plan make her the next target?

REVIEW:

Following the death of her husband, Candace Tremont felt her life was in shambles. Knowing she’d never lived to her full potential during her marriage, Candace finds new purpose after death. Julius Barnes can’t believe that Letizia is gone, by suicide no less. At the funeral of his childhood friend and celebrity, Julius lays eyes on Candace whom he hasn’t seen in years. After hearing her singing the most tranquil, spirit lifting words he’s ever heard, Julius feels a peace beyond understanding.

Either through sheer coincidence or divine interaction that their paths crossed Candace and Julius lives both changes after that chance meeting. Back at OCF, Julius’ job as Psychologist is on shaky ground after the double suicide of two inmates within the same hour. Feeling as his back is against the wall, Julius urges his supervisor to take on a daring and drastic therapeutic session for group therapy.

Dark forces are working hard to destroy the lives of inmates at OCF, will their plan succeed and successful close the doors to the facility? Apollius’ is confident in his conniving and views his imminent success as the gateway to greater deeds in the underworld.

It is my whole hearted opinion that the main goal of any author is to have their work reach out and touch the reader in profound ways. Although this is a fictional novel, the depths of the words and meaning goes far beyond mere fiction. This author has undertaken a subject matter that affects millions of people daily. Depression is a common but serious mood disorder. Combining spirituality and music therapy to combat the stronghold of depression brings this fictional piece to reality. This book evokes robust reactions at various times while holding the you captive with each passionate stroke of her pen.

While I highly recommend this book, I must include this disclaimer: this book is highly suggestive. The language while not vulgar nor overbearing with Christianity does deal with the spiritual warfare of souls. Most all religions believe in the forces of good and evil and that spirits can dwell in beings and words.

📚 Never say Never 📚

In this emotionally charged and inspiring novel, a passionate and dangerous love affair threatens to destroy both a marriage and a friendship.

In this emotionally charged and inspiring novel about a love triangle, secrets between best friends threaten to blow up friendships and a marriage and change lives forever.

When Miriam’s fireman husband, Chauncey, dies while rescuing students from a school fire, Miriam feels like her life is over. How is she going to raise her three children all by herself? How will she survive without the love of her life? Luckily, Miriam’s sister-friend Emily and Emily’s husband, Jamal, are there to comfort her. Jamal and Chauncey grew up together and were best friends; Jamal and Emily know they will do all they can to support Miriam through her grief. Jamal steps in and helps Miriam with the funeral arrangements and with her children, plus he gives her hope that she has a future. But all the time that they spend together—grieving, sharing, and reminiscing—brings the two closer in ways they never planned. . . .

REVIEW:

Can best friends form a bond closer than sisters? Miriam, Emily and MicheleLee all met in college and their bond became like sisters from another mother. Each of the ladies took a different path in life, Miriam: a stay-at-home mother of three boys (married to Chauncey best friend of Jamal), Emily: a well-known Child Psychologist, gave up her heritage when she married Jamal, and MicheleLee: lives the single and loving it life as t.v. journalist.

Chauncey and Jamal have been best friends since grade school. There’s nothing the two wouldn’t do for each other. They eventually met and married their college sweethearts, who are also best friends.

The sudden death of Chauncey changes everything for friends. How will they survive this loss? Will the grief of losing a husband, brother and friend bring them closer together or catapult them into a dire set of circumstances?

This multicultural story of emotion, romance, loss, sorrow and grief will keep you on the edge of your seat. The author takes us on an engaging ride, slipping in flashbacks that show the bond of sisters and brothers in the story. Not only does this book tackle broken relationships it also explores the art of forgiveness. Can you forgive those who’ve broken the sacred bond of trust? Dive in and find out.

📚 After You by JoJo Moyes 📚

“We all lose what we love at some point, but in her poignant, funny way, Moyes reminds us that even if it’s not always happy, there is an ever after.” —Miami Herald

How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future. . . .

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

REVIEW:

How do you follow-up Me Before You, the impassioned story about Louisa Clark, the quirky caregiver and her quadriplegic patient, Will Traynor? Many were left emotionally drained and unable to function for a day or two afterward. What type of comeback could possibly follow the love Louisa experienced when she fell for Will Traynor? Impossible right?

Fueled with just as much emotion as Me Before You, After You takes you on a journey into the life of Louisa Clark, her family, the Traynors and a host of others that cross paths with the kooky Louisa. But life after death is never the same, and this is no different. Louisa tries to go on living after Will, she travels to Paris, attempts to do all the things she promised. Eventually, she moves to London, buys a flat and exists. Her life isn’t the same, it’s been forever changed by Will Traynor. She’s not the person she used to be before him and she’s not the person she was after falling for him. She’s lost and searching for herself and her Happily Ever After.

What happens after you are gone, do you love ones move on with life, rejuvenate and live blissfully only reminiscing on the good times and memories. Moyes weaves in the intricate parts of the after in the Traynor family. Life does move on but not without the bumps and bruises of those you’ve lost still present.

Living life doesn’t always follow a plan and for Louisa, that plan has never been mapped out. Her non-existent life, after Will suddenly takes a strange turn of events that I didn’t see coming. With this turn of events, not only is her life affected but also the lives of those around her. Will she choose the right path to her happily ever after, or does that even exist?

Unexpected plot twist gives this book a different emotional feel. It’s not Me Before You. Within this story, Moyes expands her writing style and gives her best effort to reveal life after death. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others. If you haven’t read Me Before You, be sure to check it out before the movie hits theaters this summer.

📚 Between the world and Me 📚

“This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.”

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?

Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the world through a series of revelatory experiences, from Howard University to Civil War battlefields, from the South Side of Chicago to Paris, from his childhood home to the living rooms of mothers whose children’s lives were taken as American plunder. Beautifully woven from personal narrative, reimagined history, and fresh, emotionally charged reportage, Between the World and Me clearly illuminates the past, bracingly confronts our present, and offers a transcendent vision for a way forward.

REVIEW:

Between the World and Me takes the form of an open letter from Coates to his son, Samori, and expresses of the perils of living BLACK in a country where unarmed black men and boys: Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner are dying at the hands of police officers, an America where nine innocent black worshipers were shot and killed in a Charleston, S.C., church by a young white man with ostensible links to white supremacist and hate groups online.

The issue of race and institutionalized racism is the most important issue we as a country face right now. Take a look at how some presidential candidates are behaving. The actions of the past two years have shined the spotlight on issues that many of us were only dimly aware of.

Coates showcases his strength as a novelist displaying his both lyrical and gritty prose and presents readers an emotional, realistic portrait of what it’s like to grow up and live as a black man in America. This book has genuine potential to challenge people’s beliefs and societal norms in a way that will change the conversation. Coates is bridging the gap left by the late James Baldwin and empowering intelligent philosophy in today’s youth. This book is highly recommended.

📚 Confess 📚

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover, a new novel about risking everything for love—and finding your heart somewhere between the truth and lies.

At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her. In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.

REVIEW:

Confess starts out with 15-year-old Auburn and her first love, Adam. I’m not going to dwell on this as it’s a very heart wrenching introduction. The first ten pages are what pull you into the story.

Confess revolves around the main character, Auburn Reed. Auburn has recently moved to Dallas, Texas from Portland, Oregon. Auburn hate’s being in Dallas the place doesn’t really appeal to her at all; she lives with a quirky roommate and works as a hair stylist at her roommate’s salon. While walking home from work one day and thinking about how she needs to find a second job, she walks past Confess, a local art studio.

Walking home from work one evening, she notices that there is a help wanted sign on the window and ends up working the art show that night, hosted by the artist and owner Owen Mason Gentry. They’re connected in the middle.

They are both immediately attracted to each other, but Auburn is very cautious about getting involved with anyone. Regardless of her best efforts, they become entangled in each other’s lives. They both have secrets from their past and present that threaten to keep them apart and destroy everything they desire.

This story alternates back and forth between Auburn and Owen’s point of view. With Owen my heart hurt. It’s one thing to carry guilt around for yourself but when you’re also carrying your parent’s issues it’s even more heartbreaking. Owen endured more than his fair share. When I read the last chapter, I did like that the author finally answered all of my questions about the characters and tied the whole story together. However, it was too neat and tidy and felt a bit rushed in regards to answering for everything that has taken place. This was my first read from this author but it won’t be the last.

📚 Revival by Stephen King 📚

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

REVIEW:

It’s been a long while since I’ve read a Stephen King book. This one didn’t disappoint…much.

This book starts in 1962 with 6 year Jamie Morton, playing with his toy army collection when he meets Harlow Methodist church new preacher Charlie Jacobs. Jacobs is straight out of divinity school with his first parish, a small church in Maine. Flash forward a few years and tragedy strikes. When Reverend Jacobs, loses his wife and son tragically his faith in God and religion is lost as well. Jacobs becomes a lost soul in search of answers that he may never find.

Pain teaches some and drives some to insanity!

Through the years that pass, Jamie Morton travels down a path that most wayward band members eventually go down. Drugs and Rock N Roll. Throughout the book when Jamie is at low points, he runs across what King calls, 5th business. These are the times that Jamie and Charlie once again cross paths. This time, as Jamie is deep into his drug addiction Charlie Jacobs saves him.

Jacobs is an obsessed man. The painful loss of his family changed his life dramatically. Through the span of years, he never regained his faith and his obsession grew more. Living life on the edges, Jacob has used his compulsion to experiment on the folks that crossed his path, which he believed he could help.

As the tension mounts and the story progresses, King embellishes on the supernatural fringes and the horror of the story wanes. Many have compared this ending to ones of some of his greater works. For me the story although written well doesn’t compare to the likes of IT! The ending left me less than impressed. I would still recommend this book since the story was electrifying and captivating.

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☕️ Woman at the Top of the Stairs III: Final Say by Deidra D.S. Green ☕️

TITLE: Woman at the Top of the Stairs III: Final SayAUTHOR: Deidra D.S. GreenPUBLISHER: Rathsi Publishing CompanySERIES: YES

RATING: ☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️ Revenge is best served Cold!

Woman at the Top of the Stairs II brought more drama to Gina’s life. There are still matters yet unresolved. Will Marlon’s killer ever be found? Is Percy gone for good? Will Ashleigh get away with murder? And what about Gina? Will she ever be rid of Mac or will he win out in the end. All questions will be answered in Woman at the Top of the Stairs III, The Final Say.

REVIEW: This is the last book in the trilogy Woman at the Top of the Stairs. When we left off in book two, Gina had been assaulted by former husband Mac. The women of her circle; Zenobia, Yvette and Ashleigh were still dealing with their own individual battles.

Before diving deep into this book, what I didn’t expect in the least little bit, took place. We’re not only caught up on the former characters from previous books but also introduced to a new set of characters. Freedom and Brock bring about a new look into the old adage, “Same sex, same problems.” Yet, that’s not where the story ends. Mac is a man who believes he can do whatever he likes whenever he likes.

There is so much going on in this wicked thriller, confessions, jealousy, obsession and more.

In an effort to leave no stone unturned, the author brought about unpredictable alliances. The pages in this gruesome story shed some details that would leave the faint of heart, shaking in their boots. With the exception of the new characters introduced, closure of the life of the Woman still at the top of the stairs was heartbreaking and triumphant. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.